Module 5 Theorizing Infotainment, Fake News, & Social Media Flashcards
4 important dates to evolution of pop culture
i) 1985 | Neil Postman publishes “Entertaining Ourselves to Death”
ii) 1993 | OJ Simpson public trial; “Cops”
iii) 1998 | Bill & Monica Sex Scandal; Internet used for news
iv) 2001| Bowling for Columbine
Amusing Ourselves to Death
Neil Postman; made difficult academic work of Marshal McLuhan (The Industrial Bride) and made it accessible for news/media and their audience.
1990 Political/Military Exploitation
Presidential sex scandal; VietNam war showed america boys dying and soldiers killing women and children which cancelled the war; Pentagon did not allow reporters near war; war movies gained popularity
2000s War on Terror
Terrorism fueled by American thoughts of “Hatred of American Freedom”; Annihilation of complexities of the Middle-East, only terrorist
2005 Terri Schiavo Extravaganza
“Death-o-tainment”; Diana died paired with 15 yr long vegetative state of Terri; gave both politicians/mainstream media a perfect excuse for growing public anger about iraq gulags, illegal war and occupation
1991 Invention
World Wide Web (www) was created
Web 2.0
Allowed for two-way communication; YouTube (2006), Facebook (2004), Twitter (2005), and Wikipedia (2001) which allowed for sharing of media attention by making connecting and accessing information easier.
Social Media & News
Informed worldviews and social practices and how activity shapes and constitutes them (ex. Facebook algorithm); Facebook (CNN) was townsquare but company determines what you truly see.
Neil Postman on Social Media
Same as TV with same corrosive effects but more powerful due to ‘discrete discourse”
Discrete Discourse
access to seemingly endless flow of information but media does little to help interpret, understand, and utilize information
fragmented exchanges of knowledge
inhibits meaningful production of knowledge; lacks thoughtful discourse preventing critiques and dismissal of flawed ideas
Bonnie Stabile
examined misinformation and disinformation and their role in the 2016 presidential election; Clinton’s gender framed with bias and sexism (Ex. “Pizzagate” & “Health Scare”)
Media Pedagogy
What extent media educates us
Tiera Chante’Tanksley
looked at how black girls resist harmful effects of racist social media discourse by creating satirical instagram memes
Misrepresentative stereotypes (Black women)
i) Hyperaggressive
ii) Hypersexual
iii) incompetence
Propaganda
information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.
Medium/Media
(1) : a channel or system of communication, information, or entertainment compare mass medium. (2) : a publication or broadcast that carries advertising.
Technology
the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry.
Fake News
Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news.
Disinformation
false information deliberately spread to deceive people.
Misinformation
false information but is not deliberate.
Frames/Framing
Frames in thought consist of the mental representations, interpretations, and simplifications of reality.
Macro
level analysis is used to look at societies at large.
Meso
level analysis involves the study of groups, communities, and institutions.
